For the more information about water resources in the National Park Service, please visit http://www.nature.nps.gov/water/.
Seafloor Habitat Maps
Seafloor habitat maps provide park managers with better information about the location and condition of submerged resources and support resource assessments and management planning. They establish baseline conditions for future monitoring and can inform post-incident (e.g., storms, ship groundings, oil spills, etc.) management decisions. The NRSS began a servicewide program to coordinate mapping of submerged habitats in ocean and Great Lakes parks in 2008 by co-hosting an interagency habitat mapping workshop with USGS.
2008 Benthic Mapping Workshop Report (PDF 800KB)
The NRSS has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several universities to map seafloor habitats in ocean and coastal parks with funding from the Inventory and Monitoring Program.
Last Updated: September 17, 2012